Ten years ago, Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church had a small church building on Munson Avenue in McKees Rocks, a social center on Olivia Street and a cemetery on a quiet hilltop in Stowe.

"With three sites, it was too much to care for," said the Rev. Mike Selep, pastor of the congregation.

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette The Rev. Mike Selep stands in the new Holy Trinity Parish Polish National Catholic Church. Click photo for larger image.

So the group embarked on a project to sell the McKees Rocks buildings and build a new church next to the cemetery.

The project finally wrapped up last month when the congregation dedicated its new home on Grace Street, a simple but warm, bright and inviting church with an integrated kitchen and social hall. It has about 6,000 square feet of space, and cost about $470,000.

"We were trying to get a mix between traditional Catholic symbols and a feel that would make people comfortable," Father Selep said.

The church has no steps to make it easier for the elderly and handicapped, and it has one other item that means a lot to congregation members: modern bathrooms accessible from inside the building.

"At the old place, believe it or not, you had to go outside the building and around to get to the bathrooms," Father Selep said.

Even that, however, was better than the 2¹/₂ years the congregation spent with no building at all.

The congregation had sold the social hall, which included some apartments, raised more money through fund-raisers and donations, and had managed to buy the three empty lots overlooking the cemetery. When it got a cash offer for the old church, the leaders decided to take it and conduct services wherever they could until the new church was ready.

Initially, "wherever" meant Rockefeller's restaurant and banquet hall in Kennedy. Then they were offered the use of St. Mark Church in McKees Rocks, part of the Roman Catholic St. John of God Parish. The first Mass in their new home was about a week before Christmas.

They struggled with the design of the new church, Father Selep said. They worked with an architect at first, but were not happy. Then they found Bober Construction, a Uniontown firm that had built several other churches.

Mr. Baker "was happy to get a chance to build a Catholic Church; he's a Catholic," Father Selep said. Mr. Baker had built several Protestant churches, a Masonic lodge and a Hindu temple; Holy Trinity is an adapted version of one of the Protestant churches.

Incorporated into it are several stained-glass windows from the old church, as well as the old statues and Stations of the Cross.

According to Father Selep, the Polish National Catholic Church was established a century ago by immigrants who wished to have church functions in their native language. There are few Polish-speakers left and services are all in English, but it has maintained itself as an independent offshoot of the Roman Catholic Church.

Father Selep said the biggest difference is in management style: The Holy Trinity congregation owns the church building, and all members have a say, a more democratic style than the centralized Roman Catholic model.

The biggest theological differences, he said, lie in confession and absolution, something done individually in the Roman Catholic Church and collectively in the Polish National Church.

And then there's the issue of celibacy for priests.

"If you came to a service, you probably wouldn't notice any difference," Father Selep said, "except you might hear me talking about my wife and kids."

He said the value of celibacy for priests is respected in the Polish church, but it is an option rather than a mandate.

The Polish church is headquartered in Scranton, and has several other churches in the region, including in McKeesport, Carnegie, Washington, New Castle and Canonsburg..